Grime Scene
by badly-knitted
Summary: Dee and Ryo have seen some disgusting sights in the course of their jobs, but this has to be one of the worst. Set after the manga. Don't read while eating.


**Title:** Grime Scene

**Author:** badly-knitted

**Characters:** Dee, Ryo, Jim Campbell, OCs.

**Rating:** G

**Setting:** After the manga.

**Summary:** Dee and Ryo have seen some disgusting sights in the course of their jobs, but this has to be one of the worst.

**Written Using:** The dw100 prompt 'Filth'.

**Word Count:** 1161

**Disclaimer:** I don't own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.

.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

.

"Ugh!" Dee wrinkled his nose, studying the crime scene, if it could be called that, from just inside the apartment door, where he and Ryo had stopped simultaneously, having decided it might be best not to venture any further. They were less concerned about contaminating any potential evidence than they were about the possibility of the evidence contaminating them. "This place is disgustin'!"

Ryo could only agree. The squatters who'd been living here recently obviously hadn't been big on hygiene, considering the amount of spoiled food and mouldy takeout containers piled against the walls. It might have been a pretty decent apartment before several youths had broken in and decided to make it their home while the usual occupant was out of town for a few weeks, but now it looked more like the city garbage dump. Ryo had seen cleaner alleyways.

The police had been called after the owner, on arriving home from his business trip, had let himself into his home only to be brutally attacked by the temporary residents. Staggering back down the stairs to the street, having not only been beaten up, but also stabbed five times, he'd collapsed on the sidewalk where he'd been discovered a short while later by one of his neighbours, out walking his dog.

The squatters, unsurprisingly, had fled the scene, going out the fire escape at the back of the building, but from the look of things they'd left plenty of DNA evidence behind in the piles of unwashed clothing and scattered cigarette butts, not to mention fingerprints on countless empty bottles, unwashed glasses, mugs, and what furnishings they hadn't already pawned in order to buy booze, and possibly drugs.

"I don't envy the crime scene people having to go through this lot looking for evidence." Even with latex gloves on, Ryo didn't fancy touching anything; he was even debating whether or not to ditch his sneakers when he and Dee left here. It would leave him barefoot except for his socks, but maybe he could buy a new pair of shoes on the way back to the precinct.

"You're not the only one. Rather them than me," Dee said.

"Huh?" His mind wandering, Ryo had managed to lose track of the conversation.

"I was just agreein' with ya. So, you seen enough yet?"

"More than enough. Let's get out of here. The stench is going to be with me for the rest of the day." Not to mention after this he'd probably have nightmares about drowning in rotting garbage.

Turning to the door and blessed escape, Ryo wondered how anyone could turn someone else's home into such a tip, and perhaps more importantly, how they could bear to remain in it once they had. Not even animals messed up their living spaces to this extent; the place was probably crawling with bugs and vermin too.

"I'm havin' a sudden and powerful urge to clean my place from top to bottom when I get home," Dee said, following his partner down the stairs.

"I know what you mean, but right now I'm more interested in shopping for new sneakers. I feel contaminated just from being in that place." Ryo stopped on the sidewalk, well away from the bloodstains that marked where the victim had been found, and scraped the soles of his sneakers on the edge of the curb, hoping to remove the worst of the crud; he'd seen some truly disgusting sights since he'd become a cop, but that apartment had to be among the worst.

According to the hospital, the apartment's official tenant, one Michael Bentley, was in a stable condition and should make a full recovery, but when he was eventually discharged would he want to return to what had once been his home? If it were his place, Ryo was sure he'd never want to go near it again; no more than five minutes in there had left him barely able to draw breath. It would take a hell of a lot of work, not to mention money, to make the apartment habitable again, if that was even possible, and most of the man's belongings had either been hocked or destroyed by his uninvited guests. The chances of getting back what they'd stolen from him were slim at best. Ryo hoped Mr Bentley had good insurance; he was going to need it.

Sensing Ryo's gloomy thoughts, Dee moved closer to his partner. "We'll find 'em, whatever rock they've crawled under. We'll hunt 'em down like the animals they are."

Ryo shook his head. "No, they're not animals; they're vermin. Animals are clean. The ones who did that…" Ryo gestured back to the apartment. "They willingly wallowed in their own filth for weeks." He shuddered. "I need a hot shower and clean clothes."

"And new sneakers."

Glancing sidelong at Dee, Ryo smiled faintly. "That too."

As they headed back to their unmarked car, the two detectives passed the crime scene team, just gearing up to enter the building.

"Good luck guys." Dee slapped Jim Campbell, the 27th Precinct's tame lab rat, on the shoulder as he passed. "You're gonna need it. Worst grime scene I've ever come across."

"You mean crime scene," Jim corrected automatically, pulling the hood of his coveralls up over his head and tucking a stray wisp of hair behind the tight elastic that framed his face.

"I mean what I said; you're gonna be smellin' that place for weeks, even in your dreams. I know I will, and I only had to spend a few minutes in there."

"It's really that bad?"

"Worse. I've seen less disgustin' murder scenes. Looks like an indoor garbage dump. Smells like one too, only worse because of the windows bein' closed and the heat turned on. I hope you like maggots. Place is crawlin' with 'em. Wouldn't surprise me if they've mutated into man eaters!" Dee was enjoying being the bearer of horrific news a little too much.

"Fun times," Jim said in a resigned tone, pulling his facemask over mouth and nose.

"Ah, you'll be fine, long as ya don't need to breathe too much."

"What about you two?" Jim's voice was a bit muffed now.

"We're goin' back to the precinct and carry out some decontamination procedures on ourselves that may or may not involve burnin' our clothes. You survive this, we'll buy ya a drink later."

"You're on." Jim snapped on a pair of latex gloves and drew a deep breath through his mask. "Okay, I'm going in." He crossed himself.

Dee raised an eyebrow. "Didn't know you were Catholic."

"I'm not, but if it's as bad as you say I figure a little outside help can't hurt."

Laughing, Dee and Ryo continued on down the street to their car, but at the backs of their minds they were counting their blessings; as rough as being major crimes detectives could be, there were worse jobs to be stuck with. Jim and his colleagues deserved medals.

.

The End


End file.
